Is the Earth really flat?

Basketball star Kyrie Irving may be onto something after all. The Boston Celtics guard has become known for his flat Earth theory. He was questioned about it by the media and stood by his ideas.

Not only did people begin to believe him after his interviews, but teachers were forced to reteach curriculum to students, according to nba.com. Irving’s comments reignited a debate that was thought to be settled thousands of years ago.

The Flat Earth Society is basically as its name says; a society of people who believe that the Earth is flat. Flat Earthers think that the hard evidence, such as satellite images or pictures taken in space, is just a hoax created by NASA.

The reasoning for their opinions is very simple. If the Earth appears to be flat while walking across it, then it must be flat. However, the evidence that they claim to have found does not help their case too much.

According to livescience.com, the official “Flat Earth Theory” is that the Earth is a disc that has the sun, moon and stars revolving around it. The Arctic Circle is thought to be the center of the disc, while Antarctica is a 150-foot wall of ice on the outer ring that is guarded by NASA, keeping up the decade long trend of hatred for the American space organization.

Days and nights are explained by the sun and moon acting as spotlights, only lighting up certain parts of the Earth at once. Flat Earthers also believe that there is an “antimoon” that lines up perfectly with the actual moon every once in a while to create lunar eclipses.

Possibly the most unrealistic part of the whole theory is that gravity does not exist. Flat Earthers have concluded that there is a force called dark energy that pushes the Earth upward at a speed of 32 feet per second. Dark energy, as stated in the theory, is the reason that objects return to Earth when they are thrown upward.

What is underneath the Earth is still deemed to be unknown, seeing as how they dispute satellite images of Earth, saying that they are photoshopped. While there are more and more people who believe in this theory, with approximately 200 people per year joining the Flat Earth Society, there are simply too many flaws in the ideology.

An article that was written by Ethan Siegel and published by Forbes presented some facts that would have to be true in order for the Flat Earth Theory to be true. The first is that lunar eclipses would not only occur at midnight.

If the Earth was flat, the only angle that could produce the perfect circle that occurs during an eclipse would be if the disc of the Earth was directly perpendicular to the sun-moon plane. Since the last lunar eclipse occurred during the middle of the day, this can be proven false immediately.

Another part that does not coinside with a flat Earth is that all areas of the world would have the same seasons. Seasons are unique in different areas of the world because the sun’s rays hit the Earth at different angles, creating different levels of heat.

However, if the flat earth theory were true, the United States, China and Australia would all experience the same seasons at the same time because they would consistently be receiving the same amount of sunlight year-round. Once again, seasons are different in every area of the world, which disproves the flat earth theory.

A last way to invalidate the flat earth theory is that all high mountain peaks would be visible from one another.

The main reason people cannot see other tall mountains from the apex of another is because the horizon does not stretch that far. However, if the Earth was flat, all tall mountains must be visible because there is no horizon.

With no horizon, Mount Everest should be visible from every mountain in the world. While it would be exciting for many people to see some of the world’s highest mountains and structures all the time, they cannot because the Earth is truly not flat.

The Flat Earth Society is doing its best to keep up with science by constantly explaining its theory and elaborating on its prior “scientific findings.” Their theory is still gaining traction and the organization continues to grow, but Irving and the rest of the Flat Earthers have constantly been proven wrong by science.